Audioengine D1 with 2.1 speakers.

[Under_Score]

Is it possible? If so, how?

[SSL]

No point.

[Under_Score]

No point.

Please explain. I'm very new to audio hardware.

[aedaniel]

I'm not sure what SSL means by there not being a point.  Maybe he means that he prefers a different type of setup.  You certainly can use a D1 with speakers and a sub though.  I work for Audioengine, and the D1 paired with our S8 subwoofer and a pair of powered speakers like our A2+ or A5+ is a pretty popular combo for us.

 

As far as how you'd go about setting it up, our powered speakers/sub all have inputs as well as outputs, so there are a couple of ways you could connect it all together.  Most people tend to go for:

 

Computer-->DAC-->Speakers-->Sub

 

So, you'd connect the D1 to your computer with USB, then you'd connect the RCA out of the D1 into an input on your speakers.  After that, you'd connect the line out of the speakers into an input on the sub.

[Lutkeveld]

This is trying to fix a blown tire with a piece of tape. A DAC won't give you any noticable differences with 2.1 speakers.

[aedaniel]

This is trying to fix a blown tire with a piece of tape. A DAC won't give you any noticable differences with 2.1 speakers.

 

A DAC like the D1 isn't a magic wand that will make any/all setups sound perfect.  It's just an external sound card (and in my very biased opinion, a good one ).  Like any other component upgrade though, the difference you see in performance will depend on where the bottleneck in your setup is/was vs. the quality of the component you're adding.  

 

If you have a good sound card already, you're right, there likely won't be a significant difference audio quality wise.  If you've got a nice set of speakers/headphones though, and the integrated sound on your computer isn't awesome (something that varies wildly from system to system, regardless of price) then adding an external DAC like the D1 (or a better internal sound card if you're using a desktop) will likely yield a noticeable difference in performance.

 

Even without considering better audio quality though, external DACs can offer some neat and potentially useful features.  The D1 for example has a tactile analog volume knob, and separate outputs for speakers/headphones that make switching between the two very easy. 

 

If you're happy with the sound quality and/or features of the onboard audio on your computer that's fine too.  You might not want or need anything else.

[KaminKevCrew]

snip

For the D1, is the output impedance consistent between the RCA out and the Headphone out? (I own the A5+, and I maybe want an audioengine DAC too...)

[aedaniel]

For the D1, is the output impedance consistent between the RCA out and the Headphone out? (I own the A5+, and I maybe want an audioengine DAC too...)

I'm pretty sure the output impedance is the same for both connections (we only list one spec in for this on our site).

[KaminKevCrew]

I'm pretty sure the output impedance is the same for both connections (we only list one spec in for this on our site).

I was looking at that, which is why I asked.